Semiconductor devices are subjected to comprehensive functional tests in order to sort out defective devices. In this case, the temporal behavior of the current consumption of a semiconductor device, in particular of a complex device such as an integrated circuit, for example, can provide information about whether or not the device is defective. The capacitance of the device can likewise provide information about whether or not the device is defective.
The current consumption of the semiconductor device has hitherto been measured directly by means of the supply voltage modules of the chip testers. However, the temporal resolution of these tester systems for measuring the current consumption is typically in the region of a few milliseconds. Therefore, these tester systems are not able to detect rapid processes such as current spikes, for example, when switching on circuit blocks in an integrated circuit.